Lights Out
by Forgotten Galaxies
Summary: Dr. Destiny has left Superboy shaken to the core with broken confidence. When Conner feels the team becomes too much of a liability, he makes a life changing decision that will shake up the game forever. His true strengths will be tested as his ultimate weaknesses will be exploited. Facing himself becomes the hardest mission he's ever been faced with. (Feedback is appreciated! R&R)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everyone. This is my first Young Justice Fanfiction, so feedback is really going to be appreciated as it continues on. I haven't wrote a story in a long time, but fell in love with the series and figured I'd give Fanfiction another shot.**

 **Warning: This is a really dark book, and this chapter is especially dark. So please be warned about that. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

 **-If you don't know who Dr. Destiny is...Wiki him. He's a great villain. I based his look off of how he looks in the Justice League Animated Series.**

 **-I commonly write about dark things, and if there's more you would like to learn about me, please feel free to take a look at my profile. Most of my content warnings are located there.**

 **-I'm sorry if there are many mistakes in here. I did proof read it, but I'm only human and it's been a while since I've written anything. Mistakes will happen, please don't belittle me for them. C:**

 **I do not own Young Justice or its characters. I merely own the story idea and writing.**

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Pounding. That's all Conner could hear ringing in his ears as he groaned and swallowed a heavy lump in his throat. Something was very wrong. He was…sore, really sore and his shoulder burned like fire. It was a sensation he'd never truly felt before; normally his invincibility would protect him from such things, but not this time.

As he woke up more, he realized he wasn't at Mount Justice, or truly anywhere near it. Below him was a wet, grimy concrete floor that had puddles pooling on it. A consistent drip was next to be heard besides the pounding, causing Conner's head to burst to life with agony. An audible groan slipped from his throat as he slowly reached his hands up to cover his ears. Everything was aching, and his shoulder sparked up with a sharp pain as soon as he moved his arms to cover his ears.

Cussing under his breath, he attempted to open his eyes. The room he was in was filled with the gray light of dawn, but even then, it was still too bright for his sensitive head. Eyes immediately clamped shut again as his muscles tensed up, trying to ward off the pain so he could focus for a few seconds.

To make everything worse, his mind was reeling as his head was pulsing with pain. The combination made it almost impossible for him to catch his bearings and get a grip. However as a few moments passed, he was willing to try opening his eyes again. The process was very, very slow but he managed to open them up enough to catch a glimpse of what was going on around him.

At first everything was just blurry, but after a few blinks, certain things started to become clear. He was in some kind of small caved in room. The place was made purely of concrete and stone, giving it a very dull vibe. Puddles and grime lined the floor along with large rocks and slabs of concrete that appeared to be smashed through. For a brief moment, Conner wondered if he was the one that smashed through them. The idea would explain a lot, but it didn't explain what was going on, or why he was hurting so bad. He couldn't remember anything that had gone on recently. Sadly enough, the last thing he remembered was being asked by his human father to attend a small get together.

Groaning again, the super clone slowly released his hands from his ears and lowered his arms, hissing in agony throughout the entire process. His good arm felt fine, and quickly went to wrap around the aching one; massaging the muscles and putting pressure on the areas that hurt the worst.

He lifted his head slowly to look through the gaping hole in the roof of the room and stared for a long moment. Something was off, very…off. The sky was gray, as it usually was during the winter months, but it wasn't the normal gray color he was used to seeing. That and the snow looked almost black and orange.

Eyes snapping wide open then, Conner realized that what he was looking at was not snow; it was ash. A heavy layer of ash and a deafening layer of silence. The only noise he could pick up was the water dripping down into the dark, lifeless puddles. Otherwise the world around him was completely silent. Heart rate increasing ever so slightly, he attempted to call out to anyone who might hear him, but all that came out was a raspy whine. Even after clearing his throat he found that he could not manage to form words and that terrified him.

Where was the team? And why was he alone here? Sure he would go off on a solo mission here and there, but Kaldur worked tirelessly to make sure missions were handled with at least two members of the team. Of course, being alone never bothered Conner; in fact, at times he preferred it, but that was not how he was feeling right now. He felt nervous at how quiet the world was, and was uneasy that he was alone. Even more so he was concerned that he could not remember what had happened, or if he had started the mission alone in the first place.

'Am I even on a mission?' he thought to himself as he attempted to lean forward. Answers to his questions weren't going to fall into his lap, so he needed to get up and find out what was going on himself.

Unfortunately, the movement caused even more pain to flare up in his body. Conner gasped and paused to try and contain the agony that was invading his muscles and his head. He felt weak, like all his strength had been stripped away, leaving him with nothing but his wit to help him through the situation. When he set his aching arm against the floor and tried to push against it, he realized that it must've been broken considering that it screamed in pain, and shifted awkwardly under the pressure.

Making a sad attempt to scream, he quickly fell on to his opposite side and gripped the broken humerus as tightly as he could. Sharp breaths had to be sucked in through his teeth just so that he wouldn't scream again when his next attempt to move came. He had to think. He knew basic first aid from when he was still at Cadmus, under the control of the genomorphs, but he never realized he'd have to use it! He was Superboy! Invincible, impenetrable, strong, unbreakable…so _why_ was his arm broken. It didn't make any sense.

'Focus! Come on you can do this!' Conner sternly thought to himself. He took in a deep breath, biting his lip and preparing himself for the waves of pain to come. Once he felt that he had readied himself, Conner shifted his legs underneath himself and pushed up with his good arm. Discomfort washed over him as he got up onto his knees, but he tried not to think about it. He needed to focus on the task at hand, and that was merely getting himself up.

Never had he felt so drained and pathetic in his entire life. It was like his whole body was working against him to hold him back from reaching his goals…his simple goals. Goals that should be accomplished with ease.

Taking in sharp breaths once more, he attempted to get one leg up so that he could push off of it with his good arm and stand completely. But in attempting to do so his muscles screamed at him to stop and all his energy was sucked away from him like water to a sponge. Pushing on was the only option, even with what little strength he was managing, he had to figure out what had happened.

It took a good five minutes, but before Conner knew it, he was up on both his feet. The dizziness was paralyzing, causing him to take another couple of minutes just to let him blood flow properly throughout his body again. The cold air mixed with ash was irritating his lungs, causing him to cough and sputter helplessly against it. The need to get out of the small concrete room grew with every passing second that he was sucking in ash filled air.

The process was slow, and every foot step felt like a ten pound weight pulling him down; but he eventually made it to the lip of the cave in. A few more steps and he'd be out in the open to see what in the world was going on.

The air wasn't really thinning out the higher up he climbed over the lip, but as soon as his eyes saw the world around him, the air quickly became the least of his problems.

Adrenaline pumped through him as his eyes snapped wide open at the sight of bodies littering the vast ash covered waste land that was once the world. The smell of death, rot and ruin quickly assaulted his senses as his eyes roamed the sea of civilian bodies that surrounded him. Brown, dried blood caked the ground and mixed with the ash to create a slippery, slushy mess.

Everything was gone. There were no buildings, no sky scrapers, not plant life, no mountains, no nothing. It was all just a barren waste land that stretched as far as his eyes could see in the foggy ash laden landscape.

The carnage didn't end there though. Everywhere he looked, the bodies of innocent victims lay, mangled and sprawled out in unnatural positions. Realization dawned on him that the water he'd heard dripping earlier, was actually blood seeping through the cracks of the small room and drizzling into small pools.

The realization was the final straw, causing Conner to gag and throw up anything he had left in him before quickly looking himself over to see if any of the blood was on him. He didn't find blood, but instead discovered rips and scuff marks all over his outfit. Mud covered his boots and lower pant legs along with more wet ash. The combination made him shudder when the suddenly started feeling the cold seeping in through the fabric and encasing his bare skin.

A helpless feeling of panic started rising up in his chest; causing his throat to tighten up as he scanned the area for any signs of life. The panic mixed with the stench of death made him feel like he couldn't get in a deep enough breath to keep him conscious.

"Hello? Is anyone out there? ANYONE!?" He hollered, voice sounding strained and scratchy like he'd been screaming for an insistently long amount of time.

Teeth clenched as only the wail of silence answered his calls. For the first time, in a long time, Conner felt absolutely helpless. He commonly strived in his own company, but now that he didn't have the option of interaction he realized that being alone was terrifying.

This of course brought up another issue. Conner was petrified…of everything. Feeling pain scared him, all the death and destruction petrified him, and now being alone was sending his anxiety through the roof. Sure the situation was bad, but he'd never felt anything like THIS before.

A small voice in the back of his head whispered to him that something about this situation didn't fit. However as soon as the voice spoke, it was shunned out by the endless torrent of terror that would not empty out of his head.

Reaching his only good arm up, his pressed his thumb and pointer finger against his eye lids, trying to calm his breathing and heartrate down. Unfortunately, they only increased. In fact, they'd only been increasing since he woke up in this hell.

Very quickly, his mind told him the only solution to the issue, was to run. To get away from the danger, to find safety. Normally his fight or flight instincts would tend to stick to sticking it out, but not this time. Even as weak as he felt, Conner felt he could do nothing but run.

"Anybody! Hello! Is anyone out there?" Superboy shouted as he sprinted across the ash covered land. Lifting his arm, he tried to contact the team through his com link, but all he got back was static.

A panicked whine escaped his throat as he continued to press on. The cold nippy air of December was slowing him down, but he barely felt it with how fast his heart was beating. It felt like pins and needles were jabbing his skin all over and an insistent ache continued to originate from his hurt arm continuing down to his now burning legs.

"Please, anybody! Someone please answer me!" His cries continued to fall on deaf ears. Even as he entered town and slammed doors open, he found no signs of life. "What happened?" He wailed, taking a step back to observe his decimated city.

Tall buildings were shaved down to mere rubble on the ash frosted land. Broken windows displayed mirrored images of the dark smoke rising from the remnants of burning wood and corpses. A shredded American flag swayed limply in the chilling breeze, resting its fabric against the tarnished landscape; Its stories being drowned out by the blare of silence. The sea of destruction stretched on for miles, as far as Conner's now powerless eyes could see.

The moment of hesitation upon witnessing the carnage made Conner realize something excruciatingly important. If the city looked like _this_ then what was the fate of Mount Justice and his team?

"No…NO PLEASE!" Conner shrieked, his voice cracking in his dried throat, causing the cry to sound that much more helpless. He took off running back towards the beach, back towards home. The wreckage of the city along with its people now became a mere obstacle to the young hero as he leapt over broken beams and skirted around lifeless bodies. All that mattered was his home and his team…his family.

His thoughts slipped to the Justice league. Had they survived whatever catastrophe had crippled the world? If they had, why weren't they here? Why wasn't _anybody_ here? Nothing was adding up. The powerless super still had too many questions galloping around his brain.

Heart aching and lungs burning, Conner finally started to cusp the hill that would reveal the beach to concerned eyes. His heavy boots slipped and stumbled in the slick ash that encased what used to be an emerald green, grassy hill but he couldn't stop now. Quickly fumbling back to his feet, he continued to climb the hill.

The little shred of hope he had left was begging that his friends were okay, and that whatever had happened, had not affected them either. He clung onto that tiny shred as much as he could until he reached the top of the slope. It was there, that the shred shattered into desperation.

His burning eyes widened as his shocked pupils narrowed in horror. Below him lay a battle field of fears. The first one his eyes landed on was Artemis. Unfortunately the only was he recognized her was her long blonde hair, the rest of her was…unidentifiable. Next was Red Arrow; it had looked like he died defending Miss Martian whom was reverted back to her Martian form. The outline of his close friend and loyal pet Wulf was laid peacefully next to a young boy with a head of black shaggy hair. Robin…His hand was still wrapped loosely around a batarang that now stuck out against the pale complexity of his skin. Kaldur and Wally lay back to back with each other, seemingly taken out at the same time, by the same mechanism of injury. Their mouths hung open in a silent scream that only God could hear now.

The devastation didn't end with his team. Continuing on was the scattered bodies that used to be the entire Justice League. All of them slain in the line of duty, dying for what they believed had been right.

A sudden weakness over took Conner's legs, causing him to collapse onto the ground in sheer disbelief. His eyes stung with an onslaught of fresh tears as his heart pounded erratically in his chest. All his friends, his family…they were all gone.

The grief and trepidation that gripped his heart caused him to crack and break down. He didn't understand what was going on, or why he was the only survivor. It wasn't fair that he had to live and grief everyone he'd ever made a connection with while they all got to move on together into the unknown.

Arm and heart aching something fierce, Conner sat back and held himself as he shook like a leaf and sucked in erratic breaths. The shock was too much for him, leading him to feel like he could not get up and go find shelter or warmth. All he wanted to do was sit there beside his friends one last time. He dropped his head into the crook of his uninjured arm and rested them against his curled in knees.

"How could this have happened," he murmured to himself, expecting the same answer as he been getting this entire time. Instead, he was met with another voice.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Head snapping up at speeds that would even put Wally to shame, Conner made shocked eye contact with a large male. The man was dressed in light blue attire with a large black belt wrapped around his waist. He was a dark blue cloak that framed his face along with matching gloves and boots. His face was a paralyzing sight in itself. It was merely a skull, stripped of the flesh and muscle, but implanted with two dark red eyes amongst the black holes that shrouded them. His teeth were jagged and bare as he sneered at the trembling boy.

Conner's eyes couldn't be wider as he stared at the mysterious man. His levels of anxiety rising as he stared in the depths of his deep red eyes. "W-Who are you?"

The skeletal man's eyes narrowed as he stared Superboy down. A large grin slowly played out onto his face as a deep laugh emanated from the blackness behind his jagged teeth, "You don't recognize me? Pity, but the fear on your face gives me all the recognition I need. You're fear may blind you now Superboy, but you will not soon forget me."

Eyes narrowing to near pinpoints, Conner's heart felt as if it burst in his chest. His jaw dropped in recognition and he choked out the man's name in shock, "Dr. Destiny."

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 **A/N: To be continued.**

 **I hope you liked what you've read so far! As I warned it's pretty dark, but I think it'll be a good story line.**

 **Please Review, fav and follow this if you are interested in it. I share my work because I would like to get feedback!**

 **Updates will be Weekly or every 3 days if I'm on a role (Not Likely). Next update will be next week.**

 **Thanks for taking the time to read and I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: As promised here is the next update. I know its been 2 weeks instead of the 1 week I had originally planned for writing and posting, but I was having a hard time getting inspiration. However the next chapter should be up within the next 2 days, so that'll put things back on track C:**

 **Thank you for the review I got last chapter, and the follows and favs. I would really enjoy more, so please do review. No writer posts their work on here just because, they want to hear if people liked it C:**

 **Please, if you don't know who Doctor Destiny is, please, please, please research him. He's a vital character in this fanfic and a great villain, very undermined if you asked me.**

 **To clarify, this fic is after season 2 of Young Justice. Spoiler alert! Wally is "Dead," Artemis is now Tigress when working as a hero, Nightwing has left the team and they are now functioning out of the Watch tower because Mount Justice is gone. So you will see reference to all of those things in this chapter. unfortunately I also do not ship Superboy X miss martian anymore. They had their run, and even though it was left open at the end of season two, I do not think they should get back together.**

 **Also to help clarify any confusion. Last chapter we were inside Conner's mind, experiencing what he was seeing and feeling. This chapter, we're in reality. We are not in anyone's mind. This is what's happening in the real Justice League world, not in the dreamscape.**

 **With that, please enjoy! Also again please review, fav and follow, I really would like to hear more from the readers. Thanks everyone!**

 **-I do not own Young Justice or its characters. I only own the plot line.-**

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That night was unforgettable. The hush that had fallen throughout the rooms in the watch tower was deafening while it lasted. The silence was uncomfortable as it crawled deeper under the skin of reality, suffocating any sounds as if to make a preemptive strike before the real disaster was to swallow the peace whole.

No alerts had been heard in over an hour. No fires, no natural disasters, not even a cat stuck in a tree needed the helping hand of the justice league. It was disconcerting to say the least.

Martian Man Hunter took a whispering vigil in front of countless monitors, observing menial things and almost begging for something to happen. Nothing large scale, but something… _anything_. The sheer lack of chaos in the world right now tipped the tall green man off that something was indeed, very wrong.

There was always a balance of good and evil in the world. However, tonight the scale felt as if it had been tipped too far to one side causing J'onn to fear that sooner or later, the other side would snap back seeking an unrelenting vengeance. His skin shuddered with a deep nagging feeling of disaster. It was almost as if his instincts were warning him that the uphill climb, was about to turn into a downhill slide.

Suddenly, as if on cue a loud, gut wrenching, agonized scream flitted through the deep metal hallways that surrounded J'onn. A tidal wave of agony and terror washed over his senses, causing him to let out a shout of similar conduct. He'd never felt an energy surge quite this strong before, at least not since his last mental battle with a formidable foe.

Once he regained a small shred of composure, he shifted his density through the floor and traveled through the compound to locate the source of the pained shriek. Inside, he already knew who it was. It was an unmistakable voice that continued to scream; it was Superboy.

Quickly arriving outside the young hero's room, J'onn paused as if he was about to knock and see if it was alright to enter into Conner's personal space. However as he soon recognized the faces of Kaldur, M'gann and Artemis, he knew it would be better to just enter.

"What's going on?" Kaldur asked quickly, arriving first next to the treasured League member before the others did.

"I am not sure." He replied steadily, casting a steady look to his niece to confirm what he had felt earlier, "M'gann, did you too feel the wave of negative mental energy from Superboy?"

"Yes, it woke me up!" She confirmed, turning to the door as J'onn overrode the privacy code and commanded that the room let the four of them enter.

The large metal slab pulled back with an effortless hiss, allowing a gleam of light to pierce the velvety darkness that blanketed the average sized room. There was a hushed pause for a moment as the light continued to invade the privacy of the darkness, and reveal the ugly truth that hid inside.

On the far right side of the room was a tall bed, and on that bed was the writhing form of their close friend and team member. His back was arched and his mouth was agape in a silent wail, but no more sound was leaving the boys throat.

It didn't take supervision to see that Conner's dark gray pajama top was sopping wet with his sweat. His eyes were wide open, staring at everything, and nothing. They were hazy and unfocused, but moving sporadically, as if he was seeing imaginary demons crawling towards him on the walls.

A chorus of gasps filled the empty space that silence had left open. M'gann and Kaldur rushed in without hesitation and swarmed the side of Superboy's bed. The covers were tossed in all different directions and crumpled as if Superboy had been clenching them before expelling them off of his body.

The man's chest heaved rapidly as undesired tears slid out of the corners of his eyes, mixing with his sweat to soak the pillow his head was on.

"Conner! Conner wake up!" M'gann shouted, reaching out to touch him.

Unfortunately, J'onn recognized too many similar signs too late. He had seen his team mates in a state like this before and had been the only one to successfully reach them at the time. But he knew that if M'gann touched him, it would leave a trail of devastation in her mind.

"M'gann no!" He cried, lunging forward in an attempt to stop his niece before it was too late. But he failed.

Before M'gann could properly react, her hand already brushed Superboy's skin. Instantaneously she let out a blood curdling scream that caused her whole body to stiffen and convulse. Artemis was quick to respond and gripped the Martian girls arm, yanking it back into her to get her away from Superboy.

In M'gann's mind pictures flooded into her memories, suffocating her mental capacity and allowing her to feel the pain and anguish that each new scene was presenting. Snippets of dead team mates and decimated cities stood out the most, along with a shot of Superboy and…someone else. Someone she had never seen before.

The haunting images wrapped themselves around her mind and caused her to fall to her knees in Artemis' arms, screaming in pain and holding her head. Her nails dug into her scalp as her whole physique started morphing into different things, proving that for the time being, she was unstable and could not mentally keep up a specific image of herself.

"Wh-what's happening to her J'onn?" Artemis' panicked ridden voice blurted out.

"To both of them?" Kaldur asked more seriously, kneeling down to set a hand on M'gann's shoulder as she continued to morph and change into different, unidentifiable things.

"I fear that this may be the work of Doctor Destiny," J'onn said steadily, mentally reaching out to his niece to try and help her work through the images she was witnessing. "Kaldur, you and Artemis get Superboy to the medical bay, quickly! I will help M'gann."

"Touch him after what just happened to M'gann? You're crazy!" Artemis spluttered, staring at the larger man in shock. The familiar material of her football jersey T shirt sagged as she deflated upon seeing J'onn's morbidly serious expression.

"How do you know that we will not suffer the same fate as M'gann?" Kaldur asked slowly, setting a hand on Artemis' wrist before she even attempted to move. He did not want to take the risk of Artemis touching Superboy and getting effected as Miss Martian had.

"Miss Martian is a telepathic being. What she is seeing is the result of tapping in to Conner's mind. Unfortunately, she did so in the invasive way of touching him, causing his mind to lash out at hers. She and I cannot touch him when his mental state is incapacitated like this. It will only cause us to experience the same situation Conner is going through as we speak." The short lived explanation would have to do as J'onn knelt down and scooped M'gann up in his arms, carrying her off into another room, where he could safely reach out to her without being intercepted by the same waves she was.

Kaldur and Artemis made shocked eye contact, both thinking the same thing. "Oookay, well I guess I should kiss sleep goodbye for tonight." Artemis grumbled quietly, as if trying to shed some light on the darkening situation with a little humor.

"I fear that no one will be resting peacefully until this is resolved." Kaldur agreed as Conner continued to writhe. It seemed that he was breathing even faster now, and looked even more frightened that he had when they first entered the room. It was clear to both parties that he was getting worse with every passing moment.

Nodding silently to each other, the two cautiously set a hand on the super clone and upon seeing that it was safe, wrapped their hands under each of his extremities. Despite their combine strength, Conner was still a large, heavy guy and with their height differences, the two found that carrying their team member was more of a challenge than it had originally seemed.

Regardless of the physical struggles they dealt with, they met up with J'onn in the medical bay and warily set their friend down on one of the bulky cots. "Is M'gann alright?" Artemis asked, glancing over into another cot to see her green friend lying soundlessly under the blankets. She no longer looked like she was in any form of pain, but the unconscious state that she was in was no better. J'onn was powerful, but compared to Miss Martian, he was weak. Her telepathic skills would be undeniably useful in the next few hours to come.

"She will be fine, though I fear that Superboy will not be if we do not act quickly. Doctor Destiny enters the dreams of others to kill them, nothing else." Martian said in a slightly nervous tone. He glanced around the room at all the IV kits and heart monitors that were stationed at the head of each cot.

Knowing full well that he could not touch Conner, he would have to employ the younger members of the team to do the physical labor. "Artemis, I need you to cut Superboy out of his shirt."

"What?!" Artemis nearly shouted. "Why!?" Cutting off the boy's shirt wasn't really the issue; it was more why she had to do it that confused her. What could J'onn possibly be thinking he was going to do to the young super clone that required the boy's shirt to be destroyed and ripped off his body?

"To attach an EKG to him. Can you not hear his heart beat? That loud of a heart beat can be a precursor to his heart shutting down. We need to be able to assess how well his heart is working as soon as possible."

"But!"

"Artemis, please do as J'onn says," Kaldur said stiffly, turning to the countless monitors and machines that surrounded him and wondering for a brief moment, which one was the EKG monitor. J'onn saw his confused look and telepathically moved the machine over to the young male. In return Kaldur gave him a grateful look and started untangling the vast amount of wires.

Artemis had just finished cutting off her teammate's shirt when Kaldur stuck the electrode stickers onto his friend's chest. Then, working under J'onn's watchful eye, the two put the ten lead wires onto specific portions of Superboy's chest. The brown headed wire went right in the middle of his chest, then "smoke over fire" or dark gray over red on the left side. Finally they attached the white wire over the green wire on his right side, hearing J'onn recite the memory aid "snow on top of trees."

Once the task was done, Kaldur turned on the machine and took a step back to join Artemis by J'onn's side. The Martian was carefully studying the super clone's erratic movements and trying to drown out his occasional screams with his own thoughts on a solution.

He believed this to be Doctor Destiny's work, but the last he had seen of the nightmarish man; he had been in a catatonic state and was unable to ever harm anyone again. It did not make sense that he was back and able to cripple more team members' minds.

This brought up another disturbing thought. The last time Doctor Destiny had struck, he had nearly crippled the entire Justice League. Only Batman and J'onn stood a chance against the dream manipulator. J'onn had only been able to save the other members by mentally intruding into their nightmare realms and helping them to realize it wasn't real so that they could be saved. His skin crawled as he remembered the fact that he was almost too late to save Hawkgirl last time, and that Doctor Destiny's former fiancée had died from the mental trauma he afflicted onto her.

Why had Doctor Destiny only gone after Superboy? The fleeting idea was that maybe the dream manipulator was not nearly as strong as he had been the last time he planned this attack and was only able to victimize one person at a time. However that theory made no sense either. If it truly was Doctor Destiny, it made no sense that he went after Superboy. His hatred stemmed within the Justice League and the idea of the psychopath even knowing the young super clone was nearly impossible.

Whatever was going on here, it needed to come to an end and quickly. One glance at Superboy's EKG readings had J'onn mentally preparing himself to enter the young males mind. If he waited too much longer, Superboy would succumb to the fear and his heart would give out. He would die.

"His heart beat is so loud…" Artemis said grimly, bringing J'onn out of his thoughts and back into reality. By now, more League Members had gathered around the outer windows of the medical bay. They were all quietly whispering to each other and wondering what exactly was going on.

"As much help as you two have been, I will have to request both of you to leave now." J'onn said calmly without looking at either of the shocked heroes. "I need complete peace to be able to safely enter Superboy's mind and retrieve him. I fear if I do not act soon, Superboy will parish."

A look of astonishment crept across the wide eyed faces of Kaldur and Artemis. They knew that their teammate was in bad condition, but to hear that he could die was a whole new punch to the gut. The worst part is the feeling of helplessness that invaded both of their minds as they silently backed out of the room and into the frenzy of Leaguers trying to get their questions answered. It seemed that Conner's screams were waking everyone on the watch tower up.

"Artemis," Green arrow called out firmly, waving the two over to him, Black Canary and Superman. As if on autopilot, the two walked over to the three Justice League members and gave them looks of helplessness, "What's going on?"

"I only heard bits and pieces of the story. Sounded like J'onn thinks this is the work of Doctor Destiny, is that true?" Superman interjected. It was obvious that the Kryptonian was worried for his younger clone as the two had grown close in the past five years that Superman had started accepting Conner.

"Yes," Kaldur confirmed, "he asked us to leave the room so that he could safely enter Conner's mind."

"He…also said that Superboy could die. Is that true?" Artemis asked quietly. In her heart, she already knew the answer, but she didn't want to believe it. The thought of losing another original team member, another best friend was crushing to her. After Wally was ripped away from her, and Nightwing left, Artemis had no more room for loss left in her heart.

The small group saw the brief moment of grief flash across her complexion, and their hearts immediately sank. Green arrow set his hand on her shoulder as Black Canary stepped forward and embraced the young blonde in a hug. "The last time Doctor Destiny attacked, he nearly killed Hawkgirl," Superman somberly reported, turning to look back into the medical bay, "which means that it could very well kill Conner too."

"But J'onn won't let that happen correct? He said himself that he was able to pull the last members victimized by this villain out of harm's way," Kaldur said sharply. He too did not have any more tolerance for lost team members. Losing Wally was bad enough and having Nightwing leave the team left him and Superboy as the last founding members still on the team. He did not wish to cut that two down to one.

"Let's hope so," Canary said quietly, giving Kaldur a hopeful look. She had worked closely with these kids over the past few years and knew how they were feeling before they would even admit it to themselves. After Wally's death she had tried to console both the flash and the younger team members, but nothing really seemed to help them. They continued to function normally, but she could see the way everyone had mentally aged after losing him. It hardened their blissful young adult psyche and brought in the brutal reality of the job. No one was truly invincible.

"Batman had reported that Doctor Destiny had been working from a separate location the last time he attacked the League. Maybe if we can find him, we can stop him before he ends up killing Superboy," Superman offered up. Oliver and Dyna nodded firmly to him in a silent agreement to help no matter the cost. It was clear that Kaldur and Artemis wanted in too, but Superman couldn't afford to have them tag along. They were too personally affected by Superboy's dilemma, making them far more susceptible to John Dee's mental attacks.

"As much as I know you two want to help, I'll have to ask you to stay here. J'onn may need assistance and Superboy will need you regardless of if he wakes up or not." A look of anger flashed over Artemis' face as Kaldur's expression hardened in the same manner.

"With all due respect Superman, Conner is our best friend. I believe it is only right that we help you to take down the man that is torturing him." Kaldur said as calmly as he possibly could. He was very skilled at keeping a level head, but for whatever reason, this topic was striking a small nerve. It could have been the fact that he felt he and Artemis still weren't respected and treated as equals to the league, but he knew it was more so that Superman was just trying to get them out of the way.

"And I understand that son, but this is not negotiable. Oliver, Dyna and I will get to the bottom of this. I promise."

"Your promise doesn't mean much," Artemis growled, "You don't even know if you'll find him! In fact, you don't even know where to start looking!"

"Do not make me make this an order," Superman said with a hardened expression, glaring the girl down with equal aggression. "You two will stay here and watch over Conner." Oliver looked like he wanted to interject and maybe compromise with the kids, but he shut his mouth as soon as it opened. He knew just as well as Superman that involving the kids in this mission was not a good idea. He personally had not ever been affected by Doctor Destiny before, nor had he ever fought him, but knowing enough about the mad scientist made him realize that this mission was too much for the kids.

"Are you just gonna stand there and agree with him!?" Artemis snapped, throwing her arms out as she glared Green Arrow down with the ferocity of a tiger. "Kaldur and I can handle this! We should be allowed to tag along!"

"It's not that you can't handle it-," Canary started. However Arrow held up a hand in a silent plea to silence her.

"No Dyna, Clark is right. I'm sorry Artemis, but you and Kaldur are too close to this mission to be of use to us."

"You're joking right!?" Artemis said louder, her voice rising with every denied request she received from her older peers. Her face snapped over to her closest team mate; he hadn't said another word since he was put in his place by the man of steel, "back me up here Kaldur! They're being ridiculous!"

"As much as I wish to agree with you Artemis, we have our orders."

His response shocked Artemis into silence for a bit until her wide eyes turned into an angry glare. Without a word she shoved past Arrow and Canary and stormed back down the hall toward her room. If the League wasn't going to trust her, and Kaldur wasn't going to back her, then she had no reason to be in the main hall. She was of no use to Superboy or J'onn right now either, so nothing was keeping her there.

A few minutes passed, but eventually there was a soft knock at her door, "Artemis, it is me. May I come in?" Kaldur's voice drifted through the heavy steel door easily, but Artemis pretended not to hear it. "Please?"

Grinding her teeth Artemis granted him access, but refused to look at him as he stepped into the room and sat down next to her. "I know that you are angry with me, but I believe we can do our own work to solve this mystery up here in the watch tower."

"We're not nabbing bad guys by just sitting up here," she hissed back, glaring at him and reaching over to grab a pony tail so she could put her hair up. After this whole ordeal, sleep was the last thing on her mind, so she figured she may as well start getting into her every day attire.

"No, but we can be of use here. Doctor Destiny-"

"There's that sickos name again, who even is this doctor density guy?" She griped, interrupting him without a hint of regret.

"Doctor Destiny, not density," Kaldur said with a slightly humorous tone. Leave it to Artemis to not care enough about a bad guys, bad guy name to remember it.

"Whatever."

"As I was saying, Doctor Destiny is obviously a formidable foe. I do not know much about him either, but I believe we both know someone who may." She looked over at him for a moment, trying to think of who she knew that would know anything about this villain. It sounded to her like he had one good jab at the Justice League and was never able to do much harm ever again. Not much of a Super Villain that's for sure.

However as she studied Kaldur's expression, her own lit up with realization and she smiled deviously at her close friend, "Nightwing!" Kaldur simply grinned back confirming her thought as his face hardened a bit. Superman could block them out all he wanted, but he couldn't stop them from doing what they did best. Getting the job done.

* * *

 **A/N: To be continued...**

 **Well hopefully you're enjoying the story still and where it's going. I hope I kept all characters featured here in character as obviously that is important. And personally it was nice to try and challenge myself to write about multiple characters and how I believe they would react to this situation. I will really only being including the original members of the young justice team in this fic. The other characters are super awesome don't get me wrong, but it's far too many characters for me to properly write about.**

 **Please remember to review, follow and favorite. Feedback is always appreciated.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you in the next chapter!**


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